Netflix's DAMSEL - An Exemplar of Terrible Writing

[@CynicalReviews]

Go to buyraycon.com/cynicalreviews for 20% off your order, plus free shipping! Brought to you by Raycon. Get Early Access to uncensored, ad-free version of videos by joining my Patreon or becoming a KZbin channel member. PATREON - www.patreon.com/CynicalReviews CHANNEL MEMBERSHIPS - kzbin.info/door/1DCPS2j-o0bvfIilkc8RSwjoin GODS AMONG MEN $20 Aziz Jiwani Laura Hertzman The CuddlyBot EXALTED LEGENDS $10 Boring AF Elle Schwartzkopf Franka Stephan Friendly Neighbourhood Bee Necromancer Matt Walsh KZbin MEMBERS Abqnurse 57 Ana María Hernández Boring AF Chris Hughes dominick comisse Edd Starr Joe Laura Hertzman pepega PunnyPanther somebiggoofus That Guy The Northern Irish Explorer TiyLum Uncle Nought William McArthur LEGENDS, DUDES & SUPPORTERS A Aaron Cabe Adrienn Gotz Alastair Oxby Alex Rivera Alicia Windsor anemic4096 Anna Sams anonymous person Anthony Irving Ashley Elliott aura eyes Autocharth Batman Kills People Ben L. Bill Smith Bloody Ellen Lost boardsofcinema Bridgitte Neace Burnhard Cards Carla Hoffman Chad williams Clarissa Wee Claus Pedersen Clyde Frog Colton Courtney Schmitt Croc D_Vicescry Daniel Kneeshaw Daniel Metcalfe Deb Deborah English The Otter Eva Schuit Eve Fona AL-mansour Fractured Hunter Francisco J. Fritz Freya Puszka Garking gorbadoekie Hammer Hayden Barker Jacob Siptak Joe Schumacher John Wheaton Joseph Richardson Kai Lady Zira Laughing Gremlin LEDMatte Leigh Reynolds Leila Leila Lemon Looney Liam Liam Enteen Lindsey York Lord_Melonlord Luke Peden Malice Alice Martin Maple Leaf 21 matrix_909 Max matson Meghan Ruth Mercury Magenta Michael Barnes Michał Lachowski MissTick Monte moon lily Myra Mains Myuu chu Nicholas G. nika kotnik oliver mcwatters OneToxicPixel Oscar Medina Pascale Leonelli Patrick Stutt PhotoRook Raven Wales Raven's Cry Ray40k RentEldDoor Rezzy Rin Sergei Shannon Walker Shelley Reynolds Sholto Simon Grützmacher Skids SmilingWorlock SpookySack Stands-In-The-Fire Stout Shako Swaggy_T TheBlueRose Tiina tiredglow TLE Tsar_Chidgrat ttazzz TV Anthology Reviews Unknownthing2477 Wahoof the Cat William Ference Winter Buzzard YYEyes Zer0 Zichz Zorai Zoraprincess91

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

You're the Best 😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@carlosrivas1629]

Maybe the dragon has face blindness when it comes to humans, works for Rick and morty, mind you their comedy, this is supposed to be serious?

[@freereinvoltaic]

Your Raycon ads are still the best on KZbin. 👍

[@maddie_sarver]

Oh yeah! This one. I always had a sense of this film degrading women and the not like other girls trope no less. They did the trope wrong. Edit: I just realized it's not an adaptation of a fantasy book. I apologize.

[@michaelc5349]

It’s good to see one of your videos! It’s been a while.

[@trinaq]

How were NONE of the villagers suspicious about why the Prince kept getting married, and all of his wives mysteriously disappeared after the wedding?

[@Not_Always]

Shh...the writers don't want you to think about that

[@milestrombley1466]

The queen threatened them.

[@yggdrasil2]

Same day as the wedding lol

[@Ella_A_Star]

I’m assuming they knew about the sacrifice and just didn’t say anything

[@livenitup862]

That’s what the book, which ironically is based on the movie script, did better.

[@mariusvanc]

The whole premise makes no sense. Why wouldn't they just kidnap or lure in women nobody would miss, clean them up, put some royal blood on them, and throw them to the dragon? This whole wedding production is counterproductive.

[@noncreativeguy7284]

I didn’t realize until well into this review that Elodie wasn’t royal, herself. What’s even the point of the weddings if the dragon will accept any woman covered in royal blood? Just pick up orphans off the street and imprison them until sacrifice day.

[@Dracon7601]

@@noncreativeguy7284 It arguably could've been more interesting if she was just a random person and you could even set up a sequels based around the consequences of destroying a powerful kingdom and the thousands in the city.

[@marocat4749]

Maybe the dragon is lazy, but what it makes no sense is that it cares so much about her then. And if that ends saying something. i wouldnt sleep over it if its further explained and the dragon just thinks it is. Ok i saw a similar plot in a really good story as sid plot that, actually made sense. Maybe it didnt know but was angry when knew, and consequences and roxyals as scam are shown.

[@GerardMenvussa]

@@noncreativeguy7284She's not of royal ancestry? I thought the whole point was that her father rules the neighbouring kingdom and needs to forge an alliance for money. The plot is so basic yet still manages to be confusing :/

[@jamesday1295]

Exactly. Just ask very elderly women and make out he has a granny fetish. 🤷

[@blackosprey2219]

> Explicitly declares it will subvert the damsel in distress trope. > Has the protag constantly saved by forces beyond her control. Genius!!

[@kaydwessie296]

"Subvert? Ooooh I love their long sandwiches :D" - Netflix

[@user-td3yi1mq7p]

They subverted it by her not actually being in all that much distress.

[@jaredjoe133]

@@user-td3yi1mq7p Hence, the name damsel

[@ScrambledAndBenedict]

If they really wanted to subvert things, they should have had her spare the dragon, it goes on an absolute killing spree, the "evil" queen goes "You see, you fucking idiot? THIS is why we had to keep sacrificing innocent people to that thing! It's a murderous goddamned firebreathing dragon!" And then she has to go and kill the dragon.

[@Dankleosteus]

"Anytime someone calls attention to the breaking of gender roles, it ultimately undermines the concept of gender equality by implying that this is an exception and not the status quo" -Knuckles the echidna

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Even worse: it IS the status quo. I don't remember the last time there was a movie about a prince saving a girl, the last Disney one was in 2001. Action heroines are the trope now, and now audiences expect more from a movie. It has to have a genuinely new ending.

[@albatross4920]

Knuckles was way ahead of his time

[@think_of_a_storyboard3635]

"just because I'm a meathead doesn't mean I'm not a feminist!"

[@darrelsam419]

​@@PlatinumAltariaNow that I think about it, I only know of one story where a prince saved a princess from a dragon, and that's Disney's Sleeping Beauty. I guess Mario and Shrek count too but they're not princes, and they subvert the trope. So I have no idea why people think "a prince saving a princess from a dragon" is a stereotype.

[@marcusholder6508]

@@darrelsam419 It's probably not the prince/knight and princess trope specifically that's considered common, but just the general tradition of a masculine hero saving a woman, which definitely is a very common trope in stories. But there's also absolutely nothing wrong with that. A man saving a woman is considered so outdated that writers are constantly trying to subvert or sweep that staple under the rug entirely, caring more about making a point instead of telling a good story.

[@trinaq]

One aspect I can applaud the movie for is by writing the Stepmother sympathetically, and not making her a clichéd Evil Stepparent. She was suspicious of the queen, and tried to warn Elodie. Though, it was a little distracting that Elodie kept addressing her as "Stepmother", rather than her actual name.

[@noncreativeguy7284]

That’s pretty much the only cliche subversion they actually achieved in this movie, and it’s because they just showed it naturally instead of spoon-feeding it to the audience with no announcement of it or drilling it into your head.

[@owenlindkvist5355]

@@noncreativeguy7284 Yet used another cliche; Diverse strong black woman

[@lucyamclarenauthor]

I think they had Elodie call her “stepmother” throughout so they could have her call her “mother” at the end and it be all like oooooooohhh forced emotion.

[@insensitive919]

They didn't even consider the evil stepmother trope, they likely intended that character to be her biological mom and just slapped "stepmother" on her after the token casting.

[@intergalactic92]

@@noncreativeguy7284oh they subverted plenty of other stuff….. they just didn’t do those particularly well.

[@andyenglish4303]

"Who was this made for" you say? Shareholders. With Netflix the answer is always shareholders.

[@IllisiaAdams]

Me! This movie was definitely made for me 🤣 And no, I'm not a Shareholder.

[@arnowisp6244]

So Shareholders hate money?

[@triggeredcat120]

@@IllisiaAdamsYou need to re-examine what a quality fantasy film is.

[@gabrielaubry1334]

@@arnowisp6244 They do like money. They just need it...cleaned...first before they can enjoy it. Hint-hint. Nudge-nudge. ;D

[@BiBiren]

​​​​@@IllisiaAdams customers are shareholders actually... so basically in a sense, its made for everyone.... And i do not like it unfortunately. One of the joyful things about never having a Netflix subscription in the first place. Imma just leech off from my sisters account to watch Freiren and Apothecary Diaries instead lol.

[@silverscorpio24]

I love how the movie ends with our kindhearted heroic Elodie becoming friends with a psychopathic dragon to literally burn innocent people alive. I love being represented like that.

[@falconeshield]

The royal family tried to kill her? Eff them?

[@josephgibson5902]

She tells the last dragon food princess to leave, but we see in the shot after that nobody left that kingdom alive except Elodie and her family

[@silverscorpio24]

@@falconeshield There were _hundreds_ of people in that castle. The Prince himself had no choice and the King had no agency at all. They all deserved to die?

[@silverscorpio24]

@@falconeshield There were _hundreds_ of people in that castle. The Prince himself had no choice and the King had no agency at all. They all deserved to burn?

[@glarnboudin4462]

Yeah, that’s… how fairy tales usually go.

[@OneToxicPixel]

Also would like to add my own inconsistency: Why would the dragon even bother with the whole "3 royal princesses per generation because you guys took my 3 children away from me and... symbolism." when it would have just been easier and more immediately gratifying to burn the entire kingdom from the start. This whole plot point the entire movie is based on is crumbly at best. Like... seriously.

[@glarnboudin4462]

It runs on fairy tale logic. That’s the point.

[@aokhoinguyenang3992]

It's pure evil. If the dragon killed them all, nobody is left to suffer; so the dragon forced them to sacrifice their love ones every generation. This make the whole "the dragon is just a victim, deserving of forgiveness" ridiculous

[@johnynoway9127]

​@@aokhoinguyenang3992dont you just want to save serial kilers?

[@aokhoinguyenang3992]

@@johnynoway9127 Hell, from the clip(I don't want to see the movie), the prince felt relieved when he was burned alive; he must have felt remorse for what he did(even if he was forced to do it) & see this as his just punishment & relieved that he won't have to kill anymore. If the dragon had that same mentality(after creating the big fire that burn everyone, it dived right in, emulating itself), I would feel some sympathy

[@johnynoway9127]

@@aokhoinguyenang3992 the issue is that THE WJOLE CASTLE BURNED. It isnt like Shrek where the midget got eaten. Everyone in that castle was roasted. Men women children animals. Most of who arent at fault at all.

[@Burek_Od_Mesa]

Also when Elodie found slugs that heal wounds, the slugs healed her leg, but not the cut on her hand, which later on she showed to a dragon. Bruh

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Obviously she read the script and knew she would need it later.

[@rayarisk]

I hadn't noticed that detail

[@geardog24]

I’m still confused about the ending. Was the dragon going to live with Elodie and her family? That’s being pretty generous to a monster that killed your father.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Also now that the dragon is friendly, this new land seems like a much better place to live than the old one.

[@beetlejuulz]

@@PlatinumAltaria but they destroyed the whole leadership and probably all the other politicians and royals there...the land is now doomed without leadership and who is to say the dragon stopped at burning the castle. She´s just too girlboss to leave that kindom with an actual leadership and stucture...nah she HAD to make sure all of the other people there get doomed as well and eventually start murdering eachother for land food and to take on new leadership. So girlboss of her to do that.

[@clarissebento1257]

Lol. What if the dragon betrays her?

[@tranquilthoughts7233]

It's just her father and who needs a father? Also elodie obviously is far better than her father at running her country. Because she has been out there chopping wood while all her father did was sitting in his castle at his desk and looking for a policy or trade solution for the problems in the country. And obviously chopping wood is a task that cannot be done by any random villager it takes royalty to do such a complicated task while changing policies and trade is such an easy task that every single villager can easily do this.

[@elogic7368]

Her father is a man, his life does not matter. Just like girls being sacrificed is a tragedy but the knights who died trying to stop the dragon... doesn't matter, men's life is worthless i guess

[@ladydiamond6611]

"What course shall we steer?" "Home." ............. "WOMAN I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE HELL YOU LIVE?!"

[@AyubHassan07]

😂

[@enderkatze6129]

My assumption was that the Captain was the Same that brought her or her father there

[@AyubHassan07]

@@enderkatze6129 So he brought her to her death?

[@enderkatze6129]

@@AyubHassan07 who Said HE knew?

[@partylrd8699]

Shrek did the subvert damsel in distress trope better because Shrek has good writing

[@georgeeastwood6930]

AND it didn’t end up taking itself super seriously as if it’s a documentary about the darkest events in world history.

[@kaydwessie296]

@@georgeeastwood6930 Oh THAT'S what "looks stupid" about it! It takes itself too seriously.

[@rainbowdragonflies1134]

Even "Enchanted" did it better than this medieval sewage.

[@georgeeastwood6930]

@@rainbowdragonflies1134 that’s a classic, which has aged better than this is going to.

[@3thereal.4udi0s]

@@rainbowdragonflies1134 Like the nintendo DS game? 🤔🤔

[@MrPleers]

finding glowing worms in a cave that instantly heals the wounds. Basicly the fantasy version of finding the random first aid kit in a Tomb Raider game.

[@livmashupmansen191]

Women deserve better stories and female characters than this.

[@Chaotic_Observer]

@@livmashupmansen191 we really do man, im so tired of all this crap ;-;

[@CoolxBreese]

Busting holes in stone walls with a leather whip to find perfectly fresh roasted chicken

[@geministrial950]

​@@livmashupmansen191 Fr like they really try selling us this tripe like "look girls! You can be a brave girlboss hero too, just like men!" And the story is the most boring, uninspiring, plot-convenient and clichéd story ever told. It can't be that hard to write something that women relate too whole also being interesting and nee, can it?

[@silverscorpio24]

A true subversion of the tropes would've been the damsel and a heroic knight working together to defeat a smart manipulative dragon.

[@daniboy4153]

Hasn't that been done before in some way? Edit: OK it really hasn't

[@tylrooo]

I think the point of this comment is that "subverting expectations" has become the expectation, hence what was once the norm has become fresh. OP can correct me if I'm wrong.

[@neoqwerty]

@@tylrooo OP is trying to invoke double subversion, but the heroic knight being played straight fucks up their double subversion into just Playing With the usual plot. Smart manipulative dragon subverts, protag damsel subverts, but knight sidekick only calls The Lancelot instead of a Knight in Shining Armor, instead of properly subverting the knight's usual narrative role. (Thanks, Arthur, for archetyping sidekick knights.) A better example would be to switch the sidekick knight to an unusual knightly archetype for the setting (dark knight or knight templar), with or without making the protagonist and deuteragonist villains for subversion pileups.

[@skeetskeet7041]

Eh, not really since the trope still exists and has existed for a long time. Hence why it’s still considered subverting your expectations. The only thing that’s changes is that the movie announces the subversion, making it less effective. It’s still a subversion, just very poorly executed. Think of it this way: the movie is a horror-fantasy. There’s no monologue in the beginning and the adds/start of the film don’t immediately show/tell you it’s going to be a sacrifice. Instead you think it’s just a fantasy horror about surviving a dragon attack and it seems like it’s about the girl trying to not die and maybe the hubbie and father have a chance to save her. Then the movie comes round and most of it is still her in the caves but there’s no talking to the dragon. There’s no “big comeuppance” scene. It’s just the marriage, the betrayal, and the caves. The dragon doesn’t even really talk except to curse the royals or manipulate her but the focus is just the chase and the escape with far fewer clues. You can even keep the father dying but in the end she has to kill the dragon. So basically it’s *Prey* but instead of wanting to be a hunter and prove herself to the tribe, she wants to escape and return home. *Prey* (the newest Predator movie) is based on the subversion of your expectations *because* the Predator series is entirely a subversion of expectations. It works because it never needs to announce its subversions and because of that you accept them when they come (unless, you know, you just don’t like the idea of a woman being the main character…) as opposed to this movie that spells out every step it takes

[@yggdrasil2]

A better would be a reveal that all the previous princesses has all survived and built their own society in the caves a' la Solar Opposite.

[@yourweirdplant]

The only two times I have been surprised by the subversion of "Damsel in Distress" is in Mulan and Shrek. One because it was an actual showing of the character's intelligence and growth throughout the story, and the other is because it suddenly happened

[@MrSoopSA]

Shrek has that clever buildup too where Fiona is shown to be keeping a secret before the reveal, and we’re not given any clues prior as to what the secret is.

[@hackbodies]

Fiona was always capable of leaving the tower, as confirmed by Shrek forever after. She was raised on the trope of needing a man to save her, all she ever wanted was to be normal and loved. Shrek thought he had everything he could ever need, until he fell for her and it wasn't for her beauty, it was her tenacity, acceptance and independence. Also Shrek 3 when all the "disney" princesses decide to take the fight to the bad guy instead of waiting around was fun

[@TheHamo1969]

The big thing I noticed from your plot summary is the film is clearly trying for a whole 'cycle of violence' arc where healing the dragon shows that some humans are good, actually. However, razing the entire kingdom straight after undermines the whole thing.

[@akrybion]

It's only a cycle of you leave someone alive to seek revenge. So... I guess genocide is feminist.

[@Kip450]

@@akrybionI think Machiavelli recommended this.

[@Nevae_696]

I thought they just burned down the castle ?

[@yttrash565]

Tbh for me, her wearing eyeliner, while living in the middle ages, completely negates whatever attempts at feminism this movie was making. She's been living in a cave for a while, being chased by a dragon, and it's not even smudged? Come on 🙄

[@Keznen]

So ironic that with all this "SUBVERT EXPEKTASHUNZ!!!1" crap being shat out nowadays, not one has ever even tried to subvert the Beauty Is Never Tarnished trope.

[@carrisebear3499]

It was definitely an issue for me. “Oh she’s slightly dirty with beautiful mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, and massive contouring… she’s been through some shit.”

[@camilaalmiron5588]

So true

[@kaydwessie296]

I JUST WANT ONE MOVIE WHERE THE STRANDED GIRL IS HAIRY AND LOOKS LIKE SHIT. Can we PLEASE have this!?

[@allbutperfect]

How did you make the connection = non-smudged eyeliner equals to bad feminism. Also what feminism?

[@JacF6734]

Love how so many terrible movies and TV shows nowadays are basically worse versions of previous successful stories Damsel is basically a worse Shrek

[@Gruntvc]

And Shrek did the whole subverting the helpless princess/female character better too.

[@user-qv2mc3dw5o]

i love shrek!!!1!

[@glarnboudin4462]

This just in - nobody can ever do any subverted fairy tale story ever again, as Shrek did it almost 20 years ago.

[@NessieNep]

More apple to apples comparison. The Princess on Hulu. Far superior film. By the director of Furie and Furies btw.

[@GerardMenvussa]

It's all mediocre now.

[@dragonfan8647]

This story reminds me a bit of that folk tale wherein an infertile queen is told to eat one of two flowers: one will make her carry a boy, the other a girl. However, she changes her mind and eats both flowers which causes her to give birth to a dragon. The dragon then demands to marry princesses, but eats each of them during the wedding night until one of his brides tricks him. That would have made for a far better movie.

[@kaydwessie296]

Dragons are nonbinary?

[@elliefantyellow]

Woah I wanna read this story

[@LilyApus]

Strange, is there any reason given? the suggestion that combining the two flowers which are supposed to represent genders makes an asshole dragon is... uncomfortable.

[@appelofdoom8211]

Prince/king lindworm right?

[@appelofdoom8211]

​@@kaydwessie296 no nonbinary people are just dragons by default

[@claytonrios1]

Damsels in distress are basically subverted about as many times as they're played straight at this point. So it feels like this film is acting like it's making a totally new spin on this story when they're several decades too late!

[@Gruntvc]

This subversion has just become another tired and boring cliche/trope. It'd be more interesting if any "western" studio had the guts to not use it in a film or show.

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

At this point I'd be suprised if a Damsel is actually in Distress in one of these movies. "Consider my expectations subverted"

[@claytonrios1]

@@Gruntvc They're aware that there are ways to play the damsel in distress trope straight while still writing the damsel well right?

[@claytonrios1]

@@atharvadeshpande4749 A woman can be in distress and can still have inner strength. Such as never giving up hope even when most people would descend into complete despair.

[@gandalf_the_purplewithredd2057]

It reminds me of when daphne kicked that luchador in the scooby doo movie, at least that was funny

[@mergedbubble6853]

Oh right, this one. My mom threw this on because "oh, you like fantasy stuff!" I called every single "twist", and my eyes glazed over the entire time.

[@celldh0825]

You called them out out loud?

[@glarnboudin4462]

You sound real fun at parties.

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

​@glarnboudin4462 I don't know...on the one hand, the mother did something very sweet in trying to recommend something that they thought their daughter would enjoy. On the other hand...not telling someone you disliked something means they're going to keep recommending it to you. They're not really giving you something (or doing something) you enjoy. And also, who knows, maybe they have the kind of relationship where shitting on movies is how they bond, lol. I can do that with my mom, but trying to tell my 84 year old grandmother why Steven Seagal movies suck this past Christmas when she visited would not have gone well. At her age, I'll just let her move on from this life thinking he's actually good at action movies and not just having slap fights with everyone and using stunt doubles 😂.

[@Dressup_Doll]

I make jokes and call out plot twists sometimes when my family is watching movies. It’s always fun when I’m right because I expect to me wrong, lol.

[@glarnboudin4462]

Imagine being upset that you picked up on what was intentionally left for you, the viewer, to realize.

[@oneinathousand2156]

This sounds like a worse version of the 80’s fantasy movie Dragonslayer where a bunch of people fed girls to a dragon, but there it makes more sense because there wasn’t any royal blood nonsense, the girls were chosen by a lottery and the whole kingdom was aware of and in on it.

[@marcusblackwell2372]

I haven't seen that film but it sounds better than this one

[@nightmarefanatic1819]

Thanks for reminding me I found it on DVD the other day and haven't watched it yet.

[@ggrarl]

Vermithrax Perjorative is an awesome dragon brought to life with puppetry and stop motion. She didn't need to talk to convey emotion.

[@marcusblackwell2372]

@@ggrarl I didn't know there was stop motion involved. I thought it was just puppetry

[@kayfriedman5650]

Reminds me of the minotaur

[@MattHawes]

"This stuff happens in real life." I do remember that time where I was nearly blasted by dragonfire, only to have the fiery beast momentarily distracted by the sound of a nearby ice cream truck, which afforded me the opportunity to make it inside my garage. Damn dragons are really ruining my neighborhood.

[@kaydwessie296]

Oh yeah just like last month when I was stuck in a cave and had to read magical handwriting on the walls to find my way out

[@CoolxBreese]

I'm sorry that you had a poor experience with a dragon like that, but please don't paint us all with the same brush, man. Pushing those racist stereotypes does more harm to us than you realize; pyroancreatic sac cancer is abnormally high in the dragon community from all of the heat buildup because many are too fearful of judgement for using their fiery breath, and homelessness is on the rise from vandalism of our caves and abandoned castles. Do you know how much sleep I've lost trying to find somewhere to guard this ancient treasure out in the open? And I don't mean just trying to selfishly guard it; it's literally my mattress!

[@superfanmusicmaker]

_If you are inspired by a good story, there’s always the danger of plagiarism, of doing something that is too much like that good story. Whereas, a genuinely helpful reaction to a piece of work that you’re reading is, "Jesus Christ, I could write this shit!"_ *Alan Moore*

[@angyvirtu3593]

I love this quote!

[@alzerbardoz1953]

Damn right.

[@Zedrapazia]

It does feel like Dragonheart meets The Princess, yeah

[@Argos-xb8ek]

So nice gotta do it twice

[@chingma8064]

All hail Alan Moore

[@thegayghost872]

Every fairy tale adaptation thinks it’s the first one to try making a feminist fantasy story

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Fairy tales aren't even all that sexist, the sexism came from the early Disney adaptations that don't give the princesses anything to do. That was already subverted by Shrek, and you ain't Shrek.

[@anon9469]

@@PlatinumAltaria Old fairy tales: young or old, man or woman, rich or poor - everyone dies the same. Disney: Allow me to lie here in this castle until the man arrives to solve my problems for me.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

@@anon9469 Cinderella tortured her family to death and I think more people need to be aware of that.

[@tsifirakiehl4250]

That reminds me of this absolute idiot I ran into on Instagram who claimed they studied fairy tales and that all of them were about male heroes rescuing damsels in distress. Obviously this person was lying through their teeth about studying fairy tales-“Beauty and the Beast” and “The Frog Prince” both have a prince under a curse and a beautiful woman saving him with the power of love. “Hansel and Gretel” has both of the titular siblings endangered by the wicked witch, but it’s Gretel who kills the witch, saving both herself and her brother. “The Wild Swans” has six brothers transformed into swans, and their little sister Eliza is the hero who breaks their curse. “The Snow Queen” has a boy, Kai, get kidnapped by the title character and his female best friend, Gerda, go on a quest to save him. In “Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree,” Gold-Tree is a damsel in distress, and she does marry a handsome prince, but the one who rescues her and kills the evil queen Silver-Tree isn’t the prince, but another princess, and that princess ends the story in a polyamorous relationship with Gold-Tree and the prince. This is just what I came up with off the top of my head; anyone who really studied fairy tales would know about all of these and more.

[@DakumunDahBat]

@@PlatinumAltaria shhhh, they don't need to know the story's origins.

[@fefe-san.878]

So the dragon somehow didn't survive its own fire when, just minutes before, it was lighting up the sky it was flying into? How the heck did these seven-year-olds get a position with the writing team and who in their right mind green lit this confusing mess

[@aokhoinguyenang3992]

Let's praise DAMSEL for making mistake so that we don't have to

[@jodanger37]

I don’t think anyone would make half the mistakes this movie makes lol

[@aokhoinguyenang3992]

@@jodanger37 We learn more from failure than success. Now we are doubly sure that nobody will make these mistake

[@MisterS.]

And no one ever made mistake again.

[@andyenglish4303]

I really didn't need this many examples.

[@silverscorpio24]

A lot of said mistakes were based in fundamental logic breaks. Only grade schoolers and dumb AI would make such mistakes.

[@pascaleelliott63]

I believe Alan Moore talked about how it's just as important to read and learn from terribly written stories, as it is to read and learn from well written ones. Because the terrible ones can teach you all the things not to do and which missteps to avoid, and even learn from mistakes we may not even realise that we're making in our own writing.

[@blunderingfool]

Ah, so we can make "The Eye Of Argon" required reading in schools then? =D

[@maniacaldude]

That's one of the things I enjoy about Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax: I can learn from how not to tell a story or how not to make a movie while I get a good laugh on the side.

[@arnowisp6244]

They already make the Sequel Trilogy a Lesson on what not to do already. ​@@blunderingfool

[@arnowisp6244]

So RWBY.

[@blunderingfool]

@@arnowisp6244 Hah! XD

[@annika3265]

Would it really have killed them to have Elodie WANT to get married to a prince? Her town seems very poor so maybe Elodie had to learn skills like horse riding and do stuff like chopping wood not because she wanted to but because she had to, because she is the oldest child of the leader of the town and maybe she was being prepared to lead the town so she needed to earn the respect of the citizens so they would obey her despite her being a woman. And maybe, just maybe, she would like to find a husband to share the burden with, someone that she doesn't need to prove herself to, maybe she was looking for a husband that would accept somebody like her who didn't have a typical female upbringing, the royal family was saying they were gonna give money to the town, wouldn't it make elodie at least curious to find out what type of person the prince is? I think that if she genuinely wanted that marriage, if she wanted somebody to stay by her side trhough thick and thin, it would have made the betrayal all that more heartbreaking.

[@Zelda00Gamer]

It’s also just another cliche. Arranged marriage baaaaaad. Like I don’t personally like the idea myself but I know millions go through with arranged marriages every year it’s not like this insanely outdated thing. But also? If someone said hey imma arrange a marriage to a RICH HANDSOME PRINCE FOR YA idk how hard I’d be fighting it just saying

[@geministrial950]

Because implying that women want to be in a relationship in any capacity is sexist now, i guess

[@1Katakana]

The fact that this dragon was fooled into thinking that all these women were royals by them having the prince's blood pressed against their own/wound for a few seconds/minutes, as if the rest of them/their blood wouldn't still very much smell like themselves/their real family. Heck, main character little sister gets offered up instead after main character escapes, and the dragon keeps her sister alive, cause she can smell that the two are siblings, but she apperently can't smell that they don't have any blood ties to the royal family apart from the small amount of blood from the very "front" of their cut! Also, the only reason she, the independent, I need no man/I'm not like other girls character, was able to get out of the cave, was due to the previous actions, of one of the male characters.

[@Zelda00Gamer]

Or even worse the fact that she can smell they’re related but can’t smell that their father (whom both would obviously be even MORE related to) isn’t royal? So you can smell that the girls are “royal” and related, can smell that the father is related (assumption but based off point 1), can smell royal blood, but can’t put together that the MALE LINE isn’t royal???

[@cosimariemer9243]

@@Zelda00Gamer Tbf, patriarchal structures aren't really a rule of nature. Several animals who have social groups have matriarchs, and apart from that, the only real condition was "royal blood", not someone in direct line to the throne. So it's theoretically sound for them to have a father that is not royal, since their mother could be presumed to be. Also, the dragon doesn't necessarily have to smell their direct relation. The assumption that every generation of girls are sisters isn't that farfetched, since they would all be daughters of royalty.

[@1Katakana]

@@Zelda00Gamer Yes, exactly! Thanks for bringing it up, I completely forgot to add it when I wrote my comment. It makes zero sense, and just makes this all powerful, dangerous dragon look extremely naive/gullible and stupid!

[@1Katakana]

@@cosimariemer9243 I got the impression that this was a typical, medivel "son's takes over the throne, and daughter's gets married away/into the line" inspired setting, so in that case, between her parents, her father would have to be the one with royal blood.

[@Zelda00Gamer]

@@cosimariemer9243 like OP said this isn’t a “rule of nature” and there’s been plenty of matriarchal societies through human history. However this is generic medieval European land so I find it highly skeptical they allow women to rule. And although I suppose you are correct it just has to be “royal blood” so random cousins or whatever would work, I really got the vibe it was supposed to be the kings kids? Since the OG king is the one who killed her babies? But I suppose we are not actually told that so I will admit that if that isn’t a requirement then yes my point is no longer valid since they could be daughters of a female cousin to the throne.

[@templargfx]

Elodie : your evil for sacrificing all those innocent girls also Elodie : lets burn the entire castle and all its hundreds of innocent servants, then walk away like a boss

[@SammEater]

Another thing that pisses me off is how she wants to disregard the traditional role of royalty, she is a princess, she has a DUTY to serve her kingdom and choose what is best for her people and that includes political marriages to strenght relations between two kingdoms, a thing her own people obviously need as set up by an early dialogue by the king. But I guess, the safety of her people is not important, it is all "me, me, me".

[@MrSoopSA]

Imagine the nuance of showing a young woman fighting with her duties as eventual ruler while navigating her own personal needs and desires. Instead it’s this though.

[@sarahb.7175]

​@@MrSoopSA No joke. I remember watching Barbie Princess and the Pauper when I was a wee sprite, and a significant plot point at the start was Princess Annalise was betrothed to Prince Dominic to save her kingdom from financial ruin. She sings about how she wants to marry the man she loves (the palace gardener), but she acknowledges her duty as a princess and decides to stick it out because 🎵"my conscience tells me stay... I'll remain forever royal; living means doing the things my heart may well regret."🎵 Even at that young age, I understood the conflict: obviously, it was sad that she couldn't marry the man she loved, but her mom wasn't a bad person; she was trying to help her kingdom because that's what rulers do. (Long story short, she ends up finding a new source of income for the kingdom thanks to her love of science, and the kingdom is saved, so she marries the gardener, and Dominic is okay with that because he fell in love with Erica the pauper.) In short, a freaking Barbie movie marketed toward little girls who are still grasping the concept of "nuance" did this better.

[@josephgibson5902]

It's so strange to me that a movie so said to be feminist relies on the hysterical woman trope to be correct for the arcs of Elodie and the dragon to make sense (where they're just acting emotionally and erratically, in the dragon's case until physical violence is administered against them), which seems very reductive to women. I liked the characterization of the evil queen, where, despite the obvious answer to the blood feud just being to continually breed and toss your babies down there, she couldn't be bothered and contrived something else to rid her family of the responsibility (even if the method of sourcing sacrificial royals was incomprehensible)

[@izumishion6267]

There are 3 things I find hilarious. 1: It's no longer a fire breathing dragon, its a Lava vomiting dragon. WHO thought this was a good idea? Oh, plot convenience since fire would have completely incinerated our hero while lava slowly incinerates. 2: Just how dumb is everyone? Smell of royalty from a small cut is enough to convince a dragon that said lady is from a royal blood line? The dragon never questions if the ladies are from royal blood line, it just ASSUMES they are? No one questions why the prince gets married every year? Everyone has like 12 IQ. 3: A dragon's hatchlings are killed and it doesn't burn the kingdom down? What? It's just okay with the royal family sacrificing ladies to it? What a great parent.

[@bryanadkins6776]

Wait, wouldn't lava instantly incinerate someone way quicker than fire?

[@tsifirakiehl4250]

It would, but a lot of people don’t know how convection works.

[@jboj8430]

They're not sacrificing girls once a year though, it's once every generation. Even the dragon would understand that humans can't produce 3 more daughters in one year.

[@Lastmeerkat]

When I heard the voice actor of the dragon for the first time, I was genuinely so disappointed that they were wasted this badly. Sohreh deserves better.

[@Gruntvc]

Me after seeing Damsel, please God don't ever let Netflix make a live action adaptation of Dragonlance. Just give it to a Japanese or South Korean animation studio.

[@whiteraven562]

has there been word of a live-action Dragonlance?

[@neoqwerty]

@@whiteraven562 If someone could think it's a good idea to make DragonBall and Death Note into live adaptations, what makes you think Dragonlance is safe from Netflix?!

[@thedeliveryboy1123]

The animators are suffering enough already 😭

[@Gruntvc]

@whiteraven562, There's been talk about a Dragonlance film for a bit now. But after the recent Paramount D&D film didn't make a billion dollars? Likely will never happen. Netflix, ya never know though...

[@tyrant-den884]

I've read those books. They are this level of quality with more rape and plot holes

[@RoseEyed]

Wow this is SUCH an amazing premise with the potential for several twists and it was completely wasted... The Black Phone is a story about a young boy kidnapped by a serial killer who gets help from the ghosts of his previous victims in order to escape and manages to tell this so much better. Imagine how great a story THIS could've been if they'd bothered to do it well.

[@garyballard179]

Haunter

[@liampatrick3110]

Coraline has a similar plot.

[@alpyki2588]

They could've at least done the hair thing better by having her cut it off to start a fire, instead of two mcguffins of glowing beetles and weirdly flammable rocks. Have her tear of pieces of her dress and wrap it around a stick (more plausible to find in a cave than the bugs), and it would be a decent explanation for a torch and showed that she was resourceful.

[@noncreativeguy7284]

Having her change by being resourceful would be so much better and also less outwardly screaming that she’s empowering herself. Her stepmother was literally from a rope making family, so it would make a lot of sense for her to tear up her dress to make a rope or something, thereby also showing that she had a positive impact on her.

[@petrabotha8314]

There was so much that could have been done here - it's the maids dressing Elodie who give her the glowing rock, the almost dagger, the hooking jewelry. Imagine if one of them starts to warn her but gets interrupted by the queen, or if they are the ones who tell stepmother to be weary. Similarly, the other princesses map the cave and make progress only to die - imagine if Elodie actually used what they had left for her to defeat the dragon, instead of a generic prop sword. Suddenly the stupid bullshit luck becomes an example of solidarity and Elodie can come to realise that it's people helping each other that leads to survival, not ubermench nonsese.

[@annika3265]

Some simple questions that I would like answers to: Why did they never try to kill the dragon again? That was the whole reason why this mess started, because the old king tried to kill the dragon and killed the babies instead, you know what they say if at first you don't succeed. Get some more soldiers, maybe some dedicated dragon killing weapons, and keep persevering. They could even send out word to any errant knight that would like a handsome reward that there's a dragon bothering the kingdom, so they could try their luck if they wanted. Why did the old king not pack his bags and left with his family and his subjects? Why insist on keeping the kingdom right next to a dragon cave? Location, location, location. Do the blood hand thing with some people who agree to be decoys and most certainly die at the claws of the dragon so the king, his family and his subjects have time to escape. Why not get a trained female soldier, do the blood hand thing with her, and throw her in the cave with a few weapons hidden in her huge cumbersome dress so she can try to kill the dragon? If the first one fails they can just keep doing this for eternity until one succeeds, this wouldn't strain our disbelief that none of the girls thrown in the cave before elodie tried to explain to the dragon that they weren't part of the royal family, cause the soldiers would know what they were getting into.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

There are no ranged weapons in this entire movie even though they are the obvious choice for a flying creature.

[@camilaalmiron5588]

I like your comment 👍

[@CenturionMariusVinicius]

"Why insist on keeping the kingdom right next to a dragon cave?" the fuck you think a kingdom is? some huts and some cattle?

[@annika3265]

@@CenturionMariusVinicius Was it said in the movie that the dragon moved to that mountain AFTER the kingdom was established? If that was the case then it's more understandable why the people don't leave since there would be time for them to create an advanced kingdom and they would be resistant to leaving that behind, but if the dragon was the first one there it seems dumb to me why the kingdom is even there. Why would you place your kingdom right next to a dragon cave in the first place? Maybe it's cause I've been watching too many citybuilder gameplays but it just sounds like a bad choice.

[@sarahb.7175]

The last idea you listed is a genuinely cool concept that subverts the Damsel in Distress trope WAY better, and I would pay to read/watch it. Like... I kinda wanna write that.

[@yggdrasil2]

I think Doug Walker of all people said it best when he talked about Enchanted: At this point making a big deal out of subverting cliches just informs people of cliches they didn't even know about before.

[@intergalactic92]

To be fair Enchanted does actually do a good job of subverting the trope.

[@yggdrasil2]

@@intergalactic92 I guess it does in story terms, but I could've done without all the on the nose meta-taunts the evil queen/witch makes.

[@wordnado9788]

Enchanted also has a different audience. It’s meant for kids seeing this story for the first time, not an adult audience that’s rolling their eyes

[@HydraSpectre1138]

Also, Enchanted still loops back and shows that "hey, those fairytale cliches can still work".

[@zoc.6922]

Damsel is another example of Netflix making movies with negative charisma. They just thought "fairytale movie" and didn't allow anybody involved, the screenwriter or director to put in a lick of personality. It could have been a Ready Or Not/Shreak type of movie.

[@o0BlackSand0o]

The signs from previous victims could be great if the story was framed as years of victims fighting to survive and if not survive, help the next one. Show the main character also adding things like 'clean water in this location' 'this hiding spot' and show her sister using them as well to help survive until the main character can get her.

[@deztheray8935]

I actually love this idea, and the point can be more of the women banding together, even across time, to help each other until they have enough tools and clues to kill the dragon.

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

Each time the writing on the cave wall is shown, I just laugh because all of the handwriting is way too nice to be written realistically by someone facing death 😂. Unless all of them happened to have a piece of chalk on them when they were thrown down, that should look like scribbles. And who the hell takes the time to scratch their name when the dragon could kill them at any moment?! Just that moment alone ruins any immersion.

[@thedeliveryboy1123]

it looks like a McDonald's happy place

[@Dressup_Doll]

That always happens, and I laugh every time. No one who’s that concerned with survival takes the time to scratchy spooky messages on the walls and floor.

[@Usedfood004]

I think Elodie came across the writings when she was in a cavern that was safe from the dragon. It was in an area of the cave where the dragon could not reach

[@tyrannozilla]

It's a shame because I do think Millie Bobby Brown has potential to be a respected actress, but if she doesn't get a new agent soon, she's going to be thought of as a one hit wonder from Stranger Things. Also, I'm not inherently against a strong female lead in a movie or a TV series. Ripley is still one of my all time favorite protagonists in fiction. The difference between her and someone like Damsel, however, is that Ripley had help from other people (not just men but other women as well) and she had to learn new techniques to deal with the Xeno-morphs, or just to survive. Also, even though she was able to deal with the Xeno-morphs (primarily in the first film), she still had some fear when dealing with them. However, the fear and tension of the film made us root for her even more and made us feel happy when she was able to survive. Yes, Ripley needed help and was scared at times (like anyone would when dealing with those creatures), but it never took anything away from her. She is still considered one of the best characters of all time by many people (men and women) and has become a classic icon in cinema. I would argue that that's one of the main problems with films like Damsel. When you take away any tension and depth with your character (male or female) and just show them being able to do all this stuff with no established reasons as to why or how they do it, you lose any audience that you thought would see your story. If they had shown more of how Damsel was able to do the stuff she did (maybe show her learning to sword fight when she was younger), maybe it would be more credible. Also, don't make it that it was only men trying to hold her down, and that some of the women in her life tried to hold her back as well. Maybe that could've made her more jaded by other people around her and that she had to realize that not all people are like her messed up family? It's tragic that while we are getting stuff like Blue Eye Samurai (which did a much better job explaining how Mizu acts the way she does and felt more genuine with its story) we still get junk like Damsel. I would also argue that films like Damsel and Madame Web are going to make it that no one is going to want to make or see any film or show that has a strong female lead for many years. It's gotten so bad and people are so jaded by all the bad films that any film they see now that has a female lead is automatically going to be woke/SJW garbage, even when they're not. My motto is this. I'm not against movies with strong female leads, I'm against the bad ones.

[@NebLleb]

[Complains about the badly written female characters... Only to then praise Blue Eyed Samurai which is as misandrist and generic as every other trash Netflix project, Damsel included] *_Hypocrite._*

[@tyrannozilla]

@@NebLleb At least Blue Eye Samurai explains why Mizu is a misandrist and that she goes too far in judging all men as being the same. Damsel just rushes everything because "F YOU! WE GOT WOMEN!!"

[@jay-2004]

​@@NebLleb Misandrist? Generic? LMAO, you clearly didn't watch it right. And if you did, you clearly don't understand the story nor characters right. Calling Mizu a badly-written character is such a joke.

[@nightmarishcompositions4536]

Manga has been doing great lovable strong female protagonists for several decades at this point. Sad that the rest of the entertainment industry still hasn’t caught up yet lol.

[@NebLleb]

​@@jay-2004"Duuuuuurrr calling the trashy misandrist show what it is means YOU DON'T GET IT!" Why do modern western animation fans like you refuse to admit that the shows you like are trash TV and under delusions that people who don't like them don't get it?

[@smoothcacti2382]

I'll just keep rewatching Barbie in the Three Musketeers like god intended

[@appelofdoom8211]

The main character doing pointless cartwheels would've improved this movie to.

[@sarahb.7175]

Ah, a person of taste. TBH the older I get, the more I realize how fortunate I was to be weaned on Barbie movies. Like, they were better than I realized even then.

[@lionwithglasses8590]

Agreed. Old comment I know, but those movies were way better than a lot of folks gave them credit for. Even with the direct to VHS budget, they made it work.

[@QichinVODs]

I kept waiting for Elodie to ask the dragon to smell her father's blood for any "scent of royalty". I guess I was expecting too much of the writing.

[@forbezr3581]

Annoys the shit out of me that they cancel things like Lockwood and co but will pump money into some of the worst dialogue I've ever heard

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

I was thinking about this the other day, whoever makes the calls on these things was (or were) born to swing and miss repeatedly to the point of comedy.

[@charmandyorton006]

I'm honestly glad _Damsel_ exists, because it falls apart in so many interesting ways that I can't help but want to write just so I can do one better than it.

[@sarahb.7175]

Toni Morrison said, "If you're waiting for a good book to come out, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." Godspeed, from a writer to a writer.

[@bigbangbot-SuperSqank]

The moment I first saw snippits of Damsel, I immediately thought to myself “this is one of those straight to streaming AI written movies designed as background noise isn’t it?” (Similar to things like Ghosted) I haven’t seen the movie but I can’t imagine that being too far off from the truth.

[@Avarn388]

Hey CJ. Looking forward to the video. Thank you for making it. Also I am sorry that your lady Baillers review was removed by the Daily Wire. I know some of their defenders will twist themselves into a pretzel to rationalize/ defend this but it is really hilarious how a new organization who preaches about freedom of speech and being against cancel culture; removed CJ’s review. It really shows how hypocritical they are and a lack of self awareness.

[@Neithie]

God, imagine if she WAS the daughter of that royal family. Imagine hundreds of years of a culture where the king had multiple wives for the sole purpose of ensuring he had at least three daughters every ten years to sacrifice. And people just assumed they were becoming, I don't know, Priestesses or Nuns or some shit.

[@dmaxwell9827]

The stupidest thing with the plot in this is that the story seems to think i would be justifiable to be killing daughters of the king for generations after just because they were related to the king, at no point does the hero pont out that these people would have been innocent regardless or whether they were royal descents or not. The royals were wrong for sacrificing girls yes but they were only doing this out of fear for themselves or the kingdom it wasn't there choice where as the dragon chose to kill for centuries yet the story suggests this is ok. WTF.

[@lucifercon4868]

My best interpretation of why the kingdom is bad despite the fact they would have been victims in a normal situation is because the kingdom themselves never sacrificed their own royals. Each time it was time for a sacrifice, they would have the prince marry some noble daughter, probably in similar situations as the hero in the film, do the ritual to put royal blood in them, and then serve them to the dragon. From how the summary sounds, it sounds like the kingdom made the deal for safety, but they never planned on sacrificing their own. It seemed like the kingdom was just cheating the dragon of its proper vengeance for generations.

[@erebusvonmori8050]

@@lucifercon4868 The problem is even with that interpretation the dragon is still despicable.

[@colonelthunderbolt4396]

Gotta love how this movie pretends to be fresh with its subversion, forgetting that subverting the damsel in distress cliché itself has become a tired cliché. ...In the early-2000's.

[@citizenmalkane]

I will always say Princess Leia is the best example of the Damsel Not In Distress trope; All Luke and Han did to save her was knock out the guards and unlock the door but she lead the rest of the mission. She wore a long dress the whole time and never once cut her hair.

[@PowerKnowing]

I don't see many people say this so I give the flowers right now. These videos are extremely well put together and I can tell a lot of time and thought was put in them. The editing, wording, humor, and even criticisms are extremely satisfying to listen coming out of his mouth. I don't see many people in the comment section give the praise you deserve so I'll give it to you right now! Much Love and Blessing from ❤Texas!💙

[@DeclanCorey]

You know Netflix, anytime someone calls attention to the breaking of gender roles, it ultimately undermines the concept of gender equality by implying that this is an exception and not the status quo

[@Waltersop]

Thanks knuckles

[@XanderPGK]

What? Just because I'm a meat head doesn't mean I'm not a feminist.

[@ErikaCartet]

i don’t know if i understand this point? calling attention to breaking gender roles highlights that things can be done regardless of gender despite what status quo roles that society conditions us to act within… but also that they’re the exception, like you said, because they’re not treated on equal terms… so how does showing that they’re the exception undermine the concept of trying to move towards gender equality? i feel like i’m missing something not that netflix is going anything like that well here, i’m just wondering in general

[@MrGoldfish8]

​@@ErikaCartetThey're quoting from a Sonic thing, but I do agree with you. The reality is, equality is the exception.

[@JamesP7]

@@ErikaCartet Maybe you'd understand better if you saw the quote Amy says right before this. But basically, think of it like Morgan Freeman's solution to stop racism.

[@blossompetal3644]

This makes absolutely no sense. Why didn’t the dragon just burn down the entire kingdom to begin with?! That would make a lot more sense than this whole sacrificing thing. Well I guess this movie needs a plot… or does it?

[@lucifercon4868]

I don't know how the deal was made but my best guess would be that the dragon was doing an "eye for an eye" kind of deal. three princesses for each egg killed. unfortinaly, the kingdom had no intention of honering the deal in the first place.

[@MasoTrumoi]

I think this whole story is not well thought out because they were going for a "fairytale/folktale" style. Most folk tales have giant holes in them and can be very contrived. But you know why we don't demand the same level of storytelling from a folktale? BECAUSE IT WAS MADE UP BY A VILLAGE AND COST NO MONEY AND PROBABLY VERY LITTLE TIME TO THINK OF. You can't waste all this money that could've been spent on a better project and then handwave it as "well it's meant to be a fairytale".

[@sarahb.7175]

Also, fairy tales often convey good, meaningful lessons (good triumphs over evil, love conquers all, the value of virtues like perseverance and bravery and kindness, appearances can be deceiving, the importance of recognizing dangerous people and not crossing them), which cannot be said for this movie.

[@m.angelov5636]

The dragon actually speaking English just makes the movie a little bit ridiculous. Having a dumb and incompetent antagonist adds nothing to the nonsense that we call 'plot'.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

I mean, dragons can speak in a lot of stories, and everyone in this world seems to speak English, so eh.

[@notmocka]

Meh I like speaking dragons, its already a giant flying fire breathing lizard that lives for thousands of years, why couldnt it speak

[@vivil2533]

You know it would actually fix a plot hole if the dragon spoke a dragon language and the protagonist just so happened to speak it to. It would explain why none of the previous victims attempted to negotiate. Since the sacrifices are all nobles you could say she's from a family of academic linguists, or dragon historians, or any other fantasy excuse.

[@kaydwessie296]

At least in Final Fantasy 14 they gave us a dragon that gives us the ability to understand dragonspeak, instead of just going THEY KNOW [Language you're playing in] ALREADY :D

[@appelofdoom8211]

​@@notmocka the problem is that it begs the question why none of the other victims ever tried talking to the dragon at all. To clear up the whole "we're not actually royals" situation

[@ilovenycsomuch]

I utterly hated that walk at the end where she struts across the castle bridge in a snatched torn corset like we’re watching a runway show instead of a movie

[@MariekeNoa]

I hate that woman have to cut off their hair to be powerful. Why can we not be femenine AND powerful?

[@leahmarie3665]

femenin

[@akashajones6079]

The idea that long hair is feminine is an ever changing perspective. But I agree, cutting womens hair in movies to signify change, is tired af

[@dalailarose1596]

Short hair is feminine. Especially a long bob like in this movie.

[@MariekeNoa]

@@dalailarose1596 I guess we have different opinions.

[@kaydwessie296]

REAL. I had short hair for so long too and I finally grew it out again despite it being a pain in my ass, and I do feel more powerful cause I don't have to like, try as hard to look like a woman if that makes sense

[@fukyomammason]

To paraphrase YMS: When every performance is bad, that's usually the director.

[@fallingskymedia4421]

I think a horror movie where the protagonist has to survive a dragon's den seems like it could've been fun

[@emilyavila4308]

The map thing was the worst for me because that means someone got up there, most likely V, went back to the safe spot to draw a map, went back, wrote not safe at the exit, and then died, potentially leading dozens of other girls to danger for no reason

[@AyubHassan07]

That was hilarious

[@cosimariemer9243]

She never got back from up there. She didn't write "btw, I fled through this exit here", she only drew what she could see from below - a crystal cave wall leading to sunlight. Elodie sees that exact thing when she first sees the crystals. She went up, understood that it wasn't really an exit, and wrote "unsafe" up there, presumably because she just climbed up a massive height that would make climbers today sweat and wasn't able to immediately climb back down. It's actually one of the few things that do make sense.

[@OneofmanyASMR]

You know the previous princesse leaving notes on its own is actually a pretty sweet idea it just needs a few tweeks. Like have most of the solid good notes be at the start giving our character some footing in this new situation. However change it by doing 3 things. 1. Have less notes as she moves forward because less girls reach that point to leave a note. As her journey continues have less and less names maybe a few sticking out till they meet ther end. Stuff like Brittney giving a tip on drinking water and latter having another girl leaving a note like "i think Brittney died to this clif i..i see some bones im gona try with my equipment to climb up hopefully i succed and its still ther for you". Make the audience feel the impact of how many girls died carving a path foward make that feel like it means something. 2. Make it so latter on some of the notes are wrong. For instance maybe a map wrong cause ther a cave in or a dead end now has some herbs or food growing in it. We can even have the character comment on how long it takes for these fruits/herbs to mature leaving us the audience going oh....this has been going on for longer then that if the note wrong! Making some of the notes untrustworthy thru no fault of the girls leaving them. This helps with both the stakes and means our MC still has help but she now has to not rely on only the notes slowly coming into her own. 3. Make it so at the end where ther no notes left our MC actually fricken writes some notes herself! Heck as a heroic moment when originally our dragon is busy and she has a clear shot she actually backtracks to fix all the notes that were incorrect in 2. This does 2 things it shows us she isint sure she will survive and that she is in fact heroic herself since she feels indebted to the advice she recived that she now is unknowingly or knowingly sacrificing her chances just in case she fails. (Heck that could be the or one of the reason the dragon starts lissening to her since she's proven she not selfish like that bloodline) Like the idea just needs a few tweaks to be really really good!

[@dragonfan8647]

That sounds really cool

[@appelofdoom8211]

4. explain some major plot points through them. like remember the three sacrifices bit. have some of the notes be made by a group of three where the first managed to survive for longer than most others by not taking risks and they figured out what was going on.

[@Usedfood004]

Some of the notes WERE incorrect by mistake. The reason Elodie scaled that spike/shard covered wall was because one of the girls indicated on the map that was a way out. Once she got up there, she found it was an opening, but not an exit. There was a warning that the dragon could reach her there too. Presumably left by the girl who died up there. I do not fully agree with how you have written the "improvements" for the writings. 1) I think it makes more sense for the "strong" advice to come from those who lasted longer. They survived because they found safe zones and clean water. 2) The writings probably should not be in long form. Writing a full, paragraphed summary is not something these girls would prioritize. Additionally, spelling everything out for the audience would not be very interesting. 3) The dragon does not seem to know or care about the warnings from the other sacrifices. It feels like these are secret messages that connect these girls trapped in the same situation. If the dragon were somehow impressed by Elodie leaving a message, it would not make sense.

[@007dalal]

My biggest problem was characteristisation of dragon . She didnt have any issue with killing innocents but only with killing wrong type of innocents

[@Dailywatcher12]

The dragon had goat eyes. A predator, with prey eyes. Not only did the writers not pay attention in literature, but they didn't pay attention in biology.

[@itsmarinarts]

My biggest problem with the film is that it starts from nowhere and ends nowhere. I don't know who Elodie is, I don't know what I was supposed to learn "don't get married to people you don't know...?"

[@r.a.fgattaiguy845]

the point was to show off a girl boss, nothing else matters

[@daltonhall5888]

What I wanna know is why didn't the royal family just kill the dragon, it's not like the thing was undefeatable. It got taken down by a solo lady with no real skill (and if they said it's not defeatable and she did it that makes the coincidences even worse) then just releave yourself of the annoyance and don't have to deal with it every generation. One less hassle.

[@alexmercer2743]

Bro I didn't even think about the fact that she didnt think to leave any messages or items behind to help the next girl in case she died. That might have actually been a strong character moment for her and a cool moment for the plot.

[@zoeaguila9633]

The best subversion of a damsel in distress (in my opinion) was always in Merlin. arthur was a knight who was always in need of saving and Merlin was a lowly servant who had magic and was tasked with saving Aurthur's ass. It was also comedy GOLD. But of course, there wasn't a Mary Sue female character so no one does that anymore... (to my knowledge)

[@eatatjoes6751]

Oh, this movie. From the synopsis I was hooked because I’m into dragon/princess stuff (seriously, the dragon’s VA is awesome and they wasted it on this) and it sounded good on paper, then somewhere along the writing process somebody decided to turn it into a Girlboss ‘Tude movie from 2013 and my excitement *popped* like a balloon.

[@dark_side_cookies]

This is basically "You 'member Daenerys? You 'member dragons? - The Movie". That scene of her walking across the bridge with the dragon's shadow overhead was pretty much ripped straight out of Game of Thrones. Also, Millie Bobby Brown was an Executive Producer on the film. That pretty much answers every question regarding Elodie's failure as a character. Sad really; I had hopes for her after seeing her in Stranger Things. Instead she's turning out to be just another "attractive* female actress who can't act" like Kristen Stewart. * Personally I feel they both fit the mainstream definition of such. Obviously this is all up to individual interpretation.

[@remuslazar2033]

Millie Bobby has become so arrogant lately

[@Maerahn]

I know, I really wanted to give her a chance. I saw her in 'Enola Holmes' and actually couldn't stand her character AT ALL - she was so over-the-top 'excited but badass Posh Girl;' it was like she'd been mentored by an acting coach who'd just drilled her with "ENUNCIATE, Dahling! It doesn't matter what you say, just as long as you say it VERY LOUD AND FORCEFULLY, and in perfect Downton Abbey Accent!" But still, I just told myself "It's not her fault, she's a great actress, she just had bad material/an irritating character to work with." But then I saw this thing and... honestly, she was just Fantasy Princess Enola Holmes. She's going to be Posh British Jennifer Aniston, I can feel it in my bones.

[@Ashbrash1998]

In Kirsten Stewert's defense, she can act her butt off in indie movies or smaller ones. Just like Robert Pattinson can. Twilight was just a cesspool for everybody

[@jimmderby5772]

I had similar hopes for Gal Gadot after the first WW movie but since then she's just kind of perfected the Resting Cute But Slightly Naughty Face.

[@koreancowboy42]

You guys can blame modern social media and how people see things nowadays. It's the girlboss trend now

[@KrimsonRogue]

Great review dude! This movie was bizarre and definitely gets worse the more you think about it. One major element that I find strange is how poorly the movie characterized the protagonist. Elody (sp?) starts showing some very basic character traits, like how she does manual labor on the farm, cares about her sister, and loves mazes, then once she's dropped into the dragon's lair, all her characterization is dropped as she spends the next hour just putting around the caves, bumping into one contrivance after another. And the maze thing could have been a good trait to help her survive inside the mountain, but the movie curiously didn't do anything with it. The dominoes were set up and no one tipped them over! I'm thinking Netflix made this movie as a joke. Even IGN gave Damsel a 3/10.

[@ultgamercw6759]

It's honestly a shame, I really want a cool story with one or multiple dragons that does more than just making them a "Final boss" for the main character to kill. I always through it would be cool if they told a story from the dragons perspective or gave them a much deeper motivation other than "It's a dragon, it burns things and takes gold." Currently one one that we have like that is How To Train Your Dragon but that's one series when so many other amazing story's could be told with dragons. For example for this movie, what if the dragon was actually the princes first wife who got cursed and now must feed on human life to avoid becoming a savage beast? Or what if the dragon did the normal Damsel thing of kidnapping the princess but did it for a greater reason? Like using her as a bargaining chip to stop the slaughter of there own kind? There's so many ideas for this one concept alone.

[@Keznen]

The Russian movie "Он - дракон" ("He's A Dragon") makes the dragon into the love interest (he's a shapeshifting dragon and has a human form) and gives him complex motivations.

[@nightmarishcompositions4536]

Eragon and Dragonriders of Pern

[@DakumunDahBat]

Dragon's Dogma is actually a great example of good writing with dragons. I mean the first game, I haven't finished DD2 and I haven't watched the dragon's dogma anime in a good while.

[@luccaladinig2783]

I'll just add Dragonheart to the list of suggestions...

[@demetriatorowus9735]

She cuts her hair into a perfectly level bob with a sword, her ivory corset ends up evenly dyed black by the end of the movie…

[@gaby5546]

As a feminist, I feel insulted and misrepresented by this movie. The premise/original concept and intention of a damsel saving herself and becoming the hero of her own story had so much potential, but the execution was so disappointing. Come on Hollywood, in the words of Falcon/New Captain America: "yOu nEed tO dO bettEr!"

[@gloo0my452]

I’m all for unique costuming but IM SORRY that strategically-ripped dress that just so happens to stay corseted and doesn’t slip or fall off during serious fights and maneuvering despite having NO TRAPS made me do a huge EYE-ROLL. Like come on I get that it’s fantasy but there are so many amazing fantasy combat designs that they could of went with and they chose the skimpiest wannabe “Rough around the edges”, “this outfit is messy but still somehow super sexy!“ and “I’m a girl who’s not afraid to get muddy and dirty and rip my dress hah!” type get up 🙄

[@vroomvroom8407]

17:13 and you know what? LONGER HAIR CAN BE BETTER. When fighting, short hair would constantly get into the eyes and mouth, as there is no simple way to tie it up, whereas with long hair, there is an easy way to make a ponytail, which lessens the chance of it getting into the face. Conclusion: This haircut was not only a trope, it was also useless and caused more problems than there originally were.

[@AyubHassan07]

Dragon: this is my favourite part; run!” Me: “oh so we’ve established that the dragon is evil and takes pleasure in cruelty. I hope it dies…” 30 minutes later… Me: “wow it killed 3 more people. This dragon is pretty evil…” Protagonist: Let me help the dragon. Me: WHY? Also, the dragon has fire inside itself but can get burnt by its own fire? One of many plot holes…

[@HiddenDarkHM]

I certainly appreciate the review having so much more depth to it than just "Girl movie bad." Questioning "But why is this bad as a feminist movie?" is so much better and really deconstructs the actual issues with the movie. Really nice and thorough job.

[@Ardent_Sylph]

My mom was literally telling me the premise of Damsel on the way home from work and I predicted nearly every plot point/twist as she was telling it to me. I watched it with her when we got home and saw so many plot holes. It was an experience to say the least.

[@LadyPenumbra]

Add a few good jokes and it could have been a brilliant satire of the "Not like other damsels" trope

[@appelofdoom8211]

I'd make the dragon really blase about this whole thing. Like "i've stopped feeling the burning rage from getting revenge for my kids at this point now im just playing with my food until you make a stupid mistake." So when the main girl is posturing about her surviving the dragon can respond with a "I wasn't really trying very hard you know." * flashbacks to all the moments where the main girl makes a close escape but now we get the dragons snarky inner monologue *

[@ironhide5611]

Darn it! The idea of a dragon the demands blood sacrifices as penance for it’s dead children is such a cool idea! So much could be built up on that! I’m just gonna ‘take inspiration’ from it for myself.

[@sarahb.7175]

Toni Morrison said, "If you're waiting for a good book to be written, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." Godspeed, from a writer to a writer.

[@sarahtaavetti]

The thing about expensive Streaming movies: there are always some old gouls with big pockets occasionally dropping by the writers room trying to show that „they they still got it“, drop a nonesense note or two - then go right back to playing golf, leaving the actual writers trying to puzzle together a co-hesive story…

[@SDNate760]

An actual subversion would be the princess going to save her husband. Or her brother. Or her children. That last one would actually carry stakes.

[@LyleVSXyle]

I just watched Hundreds of Beavers and despite how silly the comedy is, the character progression is some of the best I’ve seen in recent memory. Jean Kayak starts out with absolutely nothing, gets put through a gauntlet of miscalculations, mistakes and grievous injuries, only after struggling the entire winter does he end up becoming a master traps-man, strategist and escape artist all under 2 hours. Seriously check out Hundreds Of Beavers, it’s amazing what they were able to pull off on a budget of $150,000

[@Prototype-357]

I just want to see a story about a female knight saving a prince from a dragon now, a simpler and more concise story.

[@dylanahern7039]

Or, maybe, we can have a story about a dragon trying to save a princess from the prince himself.

[@Prototype-357]

@@dylanahern7039 Sure, like a different ending for the beauty and the beast where the beast needs to rescue Belle from Gaston, or it really could be that the princess befriended the dragon and so the dragon wants to help their friend get out of a terrible situation, either way I think it would be a better fairytale subversion. This movie gets bogged down with so much unnecessary stuff just for the sake of subverting the "marrying a prince is a happy ending" cliche (as multiple people pointed out it makes no sense why nobody gets suspicious that all those princesses disappear) and I don't even think they acomplish what they want solely because Elodie doesn't want to get married in the first place, she sees it as a sacrifice she has to make. I think the Prince's betrayal would have been more impactful to Elodie and to us if she did want to marry rich and that's the only thing she worked in life for, the dragon cave then forces her to take a more difficult path in life, and of course the decision to have her befriend the dragon who killed hundreds of women based on the fact they were both tricked by the royal family is just stupid.

[@Kirifuki]

The dragon and the prince get married to strengthen their kingdoms.

[@ultrawhitestar]

There is a novelization of the script. While it has a cheesy ending even worse than this one, it makes a bit more sense of the plot. The dragon is looking for the blood of a particular strong female to revive its line. Why human and dragon blood should be compatible aside, it gives the dragon a reason to covet royal blood, no matter the origin. It actually is aware that the victims are bought and taunts Elodie’s father with that knowledge. It talks much more with the heroine so she can piece together the mystery. Elodie does quite more exploring in the caves and has some close calls with the dragon. When she finally climbs out of the mountain only to realize it is a dead end, it is a deserved and impactful moment of despair for her. One criticism that comes up again and again is that the dragon is not fireproof on the outside. I have no problem with this. I have quite aggressive acid in my stomach that i would not fancy on my skin, so it is no big stretch for me to accept that the dragon can spit fire and would require only certain parts inside the mouth and throat to be resistant to fire.

[@sapphicbooknook]

Fyi the movie is an adaptation of the book, the book is not a novelization of the movie.

[@Zelda00Gamer]

@@sapphicbooknookI’ve heard it both ways at this point and idk what’s true anymore

[@ultrawhitestar]

@@sapphicbooknookThe book is a novelization of the script, not the movie, and very likely not from the final version.

[@Gamerguy-ud1zo]

If they explained that the main character was secretly an entitled psychopath then her teaming up with dragon in the end to torch that kingdom would be a dark twist.

[@richardnfudge]

My head cannon: I thought that the servants were trying to help and that’s why there was so many parts of her costume that helped her get through the cave. So I was shocked when the dragon just took out everyone at the end. I thought the common folk were conspiring to help the girls escape.

[@lasercraft32]

I like how they think they're clever subverting the damsel in distress trope, as if that hasn't been done before a million times already... Like come on... Its 2024. The trope has been so subverted that its more subversive to actually HAVE a damsel in distress.

[@Ted_Curtis]

It might have been fun to see this story from another perspective, perhaps Millie Bobby Brown's character is brought to the castle to be married and it is a legitimate wedding. They will eventually need a new Queen after all. The real twist is that royal family intends for her to take the Queen's place as the one who lures in girls from lower families to be fed to the beast and its up to her to prove whether she has the chops to fill that role. They picked her from her humble origins because they wanted someone who knows the desires of young women of lower standings and now to manipulate them, a perspective the royal family are too detached to understand. She can't run away because her town and her family needs the financial support and she can't fight back or she will be quietly sacrificed and swept under the rug. From there it becomes a survival story about being trapped in this castle with a family that will feed her to the dogs if she doesn't step in line, having to navigate their egos while also trying to come to terms with being part of a system that sacrifices innocent people to retain power. She is essentially a damsel trapped in the grips of a monster but there is no one coming to save her and there is no slaying the monster. What happens when you put a character who is stereotypically pure of heart, selfless and proactive and put her in a situation where she has to become the opposite: passive, corrupt and willing to sacrifce anything and anyone to survive? And ultimately you have to ask is the Queen really evil or is she too trapped in this system where any ounce of good is punished? From there, you can take it in any direction, maybe have her be fed to the dragon only to then rise up and take control or have her settle into that role and end the film years later with her getting ready to find a new Queen in her stead, repeating this awful cycle again. Damsel stories are all about female agency so why not explore that idea through the lens of those women who game the same social structures that ultimately oppress them.

[@KirbyIsCute]

When I heard the opening, "There are many tales of the damsel being saved. This isn't one of them." I was all, 'yeah, no sh*t. That's pretty much all the stories these days featuring women." At this point it'd be much more subversive if a movie came out about a woman that needed saving or maybe even something simple as accepting help from a man.

[@saint037]

my favourite part was when she found the map a previous princess left behind... did she escape and go back in to draw it? or did she not escape and use echolocation to draw the map?

[@Xeno7373]

It would have made more sense if it was map to keep track of dead ends and then only have a last path left on it

[@RooMan93]

Plot twist, it's a prequel to Skyrim about how Auduin became such a crybaby because his baby dragons died and it lead to a crappy divorce.

[@cowboyquebecanimations3068]

At least you had this on the side when the lady ballers got canned lol, sorry for youtube being a pain with your review

[@e.vanl.]

An acquaintance of mine worked on the cgi crew of this film and even they told me and my family we shouldn't watch it. Not even "it's not great", they actively told us not to watch it. Personally, I also hated the way the movie had some blatant ass shots (e.g. when she's climbing the crystal wall in the cave). I understand MBB is no longer the child we first saw in Stranger Things, but it feels like maybe she wanted to rid herself of her kid persona and felt the need to be seen as a Sexy Adult Woman™. It felt pretty forced and uncomfortable to watch

[@e.vanl.]

@abcdefgggggg70 like I said, the fact that they really just zoomed in on her ass, for no reason. It's not 'a climbing fetish' like you sarcastically say, it just made me really uncomfortable. That's all I said. If you wanna watch it, go ahead, I'm not stopping you.